Fighting chance
by Pempees90
Summary: The Office AU: In the post-apocalyptic world, that is infested with zombies, Jim and Dwight fight every day just to stay alive. They are haunted by their past and scared by their future, but their miserable lives are going to change forever when they stumble upon an innocent camp in the woods.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is my first ever The Office story, and I am very intrigued to ponder how different characters would survive in a zombie apocalyptic world. So this is going to be my take on how the Office characters would do it. I have tweaked few details to make it more interesting. I hope you enjoy it :)

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"I've always thought that we do need a new plague. The world was over populated as it was, but I do have to admit, this wasn't quite what I had in mind. Of course, I knew this was the possibility the whole time, since the government started to play with biochemical weapons. Still I did hope that the plague that would wipe the slate clean would have been a bit easier to survive. Not that there was ever any question that I would make it, but there is going to be one hell of a job to repopulate the Earth once this blows over…"

Jim let his forehead thud against the cold surface of the car window and closed his eyes. He let Dwight ramble on and on, but was barely listening anymore. There would have once been time, when Jim would have pretended to be interested in Dwight's lectures and the managed to turn it around on him and made fun of him. But he had learned to let Dwight rant. It was his way to calm down and keep the situation under control.

At least as much as he could keep anything under control… so much was out of their hands in this world, and that's why Dwight gave his all, to control his car. That's why Jim only ever drove when Dwight could not.

They both looked like they had been to Hell and back. Even though their attire was quite clean, the clothes were ripped from several points and hung on their bodies like plus size outfit on a child mannequin. Jim's shirt had probably once been white, but now it looked more like a rusty colour; the blood never came out. He also had a deep cut on his right cheek that had barely started to heal, and Dwight's glasses had several points where they had been fixed with tape. Both of them had the start of a beard that were in that awkward phase were it wasn't a stubble anymore, but not quite the proper beard yet.

But no, they hadn't been to Hell and back. They were still there.

Jim pulled himself away from the window and warily opened his eyes. The sun was going down.

They were driving on a highway, on which they were the only things alive. It was littered with occasional cars and bodies. Jim swore that he even saw a rabbit once. Occasional walkers roamed the sides of the roads wavering in and out of the forest that started almost immediately from where the road ended. It was obvious that Mother Nature had started to take back what was originally hers; the weeds and hay were all around and in most places reached over Jim's knees. Most of the time it was possible to forget what was going on in the world, because everything was calm and even beautiful, but there were the crude moments as well. Like when Jim was forced to witness someone recently deceased being ripped apart by the undead.

"We should stop for a while, take a stroll, eat and then look for a place to park for the night," Jim said.

"I know. I have been searching for a spot to stop while you have been completely useless, but as you clearly haven't noticed we are in a very zombie infested area," Dwight answered.

"There are barely any—, "Jim stopped quickly as his eyes focused on the forest. He could quickly tell that Dwight was right; there were dozens of walkers roaming the blush greens of the forest, which had concealed them from Jim when he hadn't been paying enough attention.

"As you can see, I am right. So I am just going to keep driving till we pass most of them."

Jim completely ignored the smugness in Dwight's voice; he knew better than to let Dwight notice something that he hadn't, so now he just had to put up with it.

"Where do you think they are going?" Jim asked, and his eyes were following one walker that was swaying from its pack. It was walking almost straight towards the road, and the car, but was quickly left behind to shuffle towards the empty road.

Dwight took a glance out of the window and shrugged.

"Hard to say... I haven't heard anything that would attract them in such large groups. Might be pack of wounded animals," Dwight pondered. Jim settled to sit normally on his seat and kept his eyes looking at the road ahead to avoid seeing any of the walkers.

"Yeah, it just always makes me uneasy when they gather like that."

Dwight nodded in agreement. That was something everyone in this world had in common. A couple of walkers weren't usually too hard to take out, because they were slow, and they didn't know how to stop the mindless growling. Of course, all of this only happened if a person was carrying a weapon with them, but there wouldn't be anyone stupid enough to walk around unarmed.

Jim let the silence sit back in, but kept his eyes active.

They had been on the road longer than either of them cared to remember. Before all of this happened, they had both been salesmen in the same paper company; Dunder-Mifflin, the Utica branch.

But that was what now felt like million years ago. Before their co-workers had madly started to chew each other and then attacked them. It made Jim shiver just thinking about it.

Now when Jim thought about that time it seemed stupid that he hadn't gotten more worried or done anything when Rolando, the receptionist of their branch, had come in shocked and screaming that someone bit him in the parking lot. Dwight had been the only one who paid close attention to his wounds and wanted to know the story down to the last detail. Their manager had of course been worried, and she wanted to send him home, but Rolando had said he would be fine.

Who knows what would have happened if Rolando had left for home, and turned by himself in his apartment? Instead of that, he got feverish and started to sweat. Everyone in the office could see that he was visibly sick, shaking and finally breaking down and running to the toilet to be sick. But the thing that came out, wasn't Rolando anymore, but a monster that had taken over.

Jim shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts of that day. After Rolando had come out of the bathroom, all hell broke loose in the office and Jim just wanted to forget about it.

Jim tried to get a bit more comfortable in the seat, but his backside started to get numb after the hours of sitting in the car. The cracks in the asphalt that weren't any longer maintained definitely didn't make the seats any nicer to sit on.

As if Dwight had read Jim's mind, he started to slow down. The pack had disappeared from their vision, but the place didn't look like a proper spot to have a break at. There were two cars that had crashed into each other and three walkers that started immediately to walk closer to their car.

"Dwight, what are you doing? This is hardly the place to stop for a break. Besides we don't know how far the pack is from us yet!"

"We are not stopping here for a break. We are going to take a look into these two cars in case there is something we could use. And it is just three walkers. You can't be scared of only three, can you, Jim?" Dwight said.

"I am not scared, and in the future you could let me know _before_ you just randomly stop," Jim mumbled. He hated how many times he had let Dwight have the upper hand of him today, so he continued:

"But if the pack catches a scent of us, or hears us, I am locking myself into the car and driving away. You will be left behind."

Dwight laughed as he got out of the car. Jim followed suit.

"You have no chance of beating me to the car. I would push you for the zombies and be out of here before they had taken their first bite," Dwight scoffed.

The three walkers started to shuffle closer to the two men, and Jim took his knife from its spot on his belt.

"There is no way you would be able to just push me away. I am way too fast for you to even grab a hold of me," Jim laughed and casually walked closer to the undead.

"Oh Jim, you are so delusional," Dwight shook his head and fired his crossbow. The walker closest to Dwight got an arrow in between its eyes, and it dropped to the ground. Dwight casually walked over and pulled the arrow out.

"Me? Delusional? You think you are invincible with that crossbow," Jim pointed out. The second walker was only a step away from Jim, when he took hold of its jaw with his left hand and yanked the knife into its brain with his right.

Dwight took the third one out with a clean shot to the forehead and turned to smile cockily at Jim.

"Nothing has proven me wrong yet. You, on the other hand, are so pathetic with your little knives," Dwight said and then walked to get his arrow.

"What would you have me use then Dwight, a loud gun that attracts all of the walkers in a two mile radius?" Jim scoffed as he walked towards one of the cars. He wasn't overly excited to see what was inside; sometimes there were full families trapped and eventually turned into walkers. The windows had gathered so much dirt over the times that it was impossible to peek inside before opening the door. As Jim's hand reached the handle he froze.

He took a quick glance at Dwight who was just looking at him with his crossbow ready. Jim knew without having to ask that Dwight was thinking about the exact same moment he was: months and months ago, when they hadn't been on the road for long, they had done a similar kind of raid. Dwight had always insisted on keeping their essentials in shape and he never let anything ran out. Back then they had been so innocent and naïve about things.

Dwight had pulled the door open of that red Buick without back up or a wide enough stance to take on what was on the other side. The girl who jumped on him couldn't have been older than five. Jim had been at another car and it took him a while to notice what was going on. Dwight had been pushing the girl away by her shoulders, but she kept trying to gnaw at him. He was obviously too stunned to try to do anything else than keep her away. When the walker, who had most likely been her mother, crawled out of the car, Jim ran to Dwight's aid.

He had kicked the mother away and crammed a knife into the girl's head. It forced Dwight into action and he let go of the girl on top of him. He grabbed his gun from his jeans waist and shot the mother. She fell dead on top of Jim who dropped on top of the girl and Dwight because of the surprise weight. Panicking, he had gotten rid of the mother, and helped Dwight up from under the girl's body. He had felt positively sick, and he kept wiping his hands. But the worst was only coming, when they went to check the car.

The baby couldn't have been more than a year old. It pushed Jim over the edge; he had backed down few steps and been sick next to their own car. When he had heard the gunshot, he vomited again.

They never talked about it afterwards, but Dwight had disappeared for an hour just before the dark. He came back still shaking, and still looking green around the edges, but he had tried to get their usual mocking conversation going.

So now when Jim was opening the door of the car that was again a red one, he knew both of them were thinking about that.

Dwight slightly nodded to Jim, and Jim pulled the door open. He jumped backwards with his knife raised high, but no one attacked. They were greeted by a rotten dead corpse and a smell that made Jim's stomach lurch.

"Well, I don't know. You could try one of the cool machetes. In case you would know how to use that kind of thing," Dwight continued like nothing happened. He walked next to his companion and together they rolled the rotting, disgusting body out of the car. It had a big hole in its head and gun that he had made it with was found on the floor.

Smoothly Dwight pocketed it.

"How different do you think a machete is to a knife?" Jim scoffed and continued then looking at the body "Do you think he did it while driving? And that is why they crashed?"

Dwight turned to look at the body and then glanced at the other car.

"Possibly. You are just proving to me that you know absolutely nothing," Dwight said and then started going through the car. Jim walked to the other side and started his own search.

"There is only one solution to this. You have to show off some of those machete skills next time we have some walkers to try it with," Jim hid his half smile. He knew that it was stupid to try to get Dwight do something like this; because he would! Asking him to show off is guaranteed to give Jim a great show! But Jim asked anyway, he would be there to back Dwight up, and besides... What other entertainment did he have?

"Gladly. You will be amazed," Dwight mumbled, but was too focused on searching through the piles of stuff on the backseat to sound excited or cocky.

"There are some blankets we can use, but otherwise this is pretty much junk. Who takes their photo albums when the world is ending? They are not even hollowed out!" Dwight sighed disapprovingly. Jim's thoughts went immediately to the picture in his private bag; the only thing he had grabbed from his table at the office. It was a picture of him and his brothers.

Jim moved to search the trunk and only found few pieces of clothing that might be useful.

"Trunk is a bust as well," he informed Dwight.

"Alright," Dwight sighed. They both moved automatically to the next car, and repeated the routine.

The second car hadn't been a success either, but they had managed to obtain some gas out of both cars. After that they had driven for another half an hour and then stopped to eat. They had a can of sardines each; something that Jim would not have eaten ever in a million years in a normal civilisation. They jumped back into driving quickly, trying to find a place to stop for the night.

After an hour of driving in a silence, Jim looked at the sun nervously. They had an hour, maybe a little less, to find a place, and he hated nothing more than moving during the dark.

"Dwight, we really need to stop soon," he remarked.

"Don't you think I know that? I've been scanning the surroundings this whole time," Dwight sneered and shook his head, "You are the worst person to face the end of the world with. Without you, I would have probably saved the Earth already."

Jim didn't grace Dwight's rant with an answer, but instead kept his eyes open for a place that looked safe enough for the night. He didn't care about Dwight's words. He had heard them plenty of times before: he had _said_ them plenty of times before. These days it was just casual remark to remind the other person that they weren't friends, but just forced to spend the remaining of their lives together – however long that might be. In the beginning, it had been true though.

They had escaped miraculously from their office to Dwight's farm. They had to kill Dwight's cousin Mose, who – as Dwight repeatedly told Jim during the first weeks – he would have much rather been stuck with.

Those weeks were the absolute worst of Jim's life. It sounds weird, taking into account the situation, but things got better after that.

"What if we drive close to that car wreck, and lock our doors?" Jim suggested, pointing to the right lane that had once been full of panicked people trying to get out of the big cities, but that now was just a massive graveyard of cars crushed together. It looked like that the first driver was unable to get out of the way of the first abandoned car, and the rest of the cars had piled on that one. There were at least a hundred cars in one pile up, and there were a few dotted around when people had abandoned their vehicles.

Dwight seemed to undergo a slight inner battle trying to figure out a way to best Jim's plan.

"Just drive, without lights, and slowly, making as little noise as…"

"I know, Jim!" Dwight snapped and flipped his lights off. Slowly he drove on the unruly grass that covered the small gap between the lanes. He guided the car as close as he dared to the first car in the wreck. There was still plenty of space to escape if it was needed.

Sighing, Dwight turned the engine off and grabbed some blankets from the back seat. He threw one for Jim and then lowered his seat, so he could lie in it. Jim took one last look around them, and after seeing no movement, he followed Dwight's example. They were accustomed at going to sleep – or in most cases just lying down – at the last light of the day. Nights were the most active time for the walkers, and it was better to try and make themselves invisible for those hours.

They quietly watched the sun disappear for the night, carefully avoiding looking directly into the cars that were now in front of them: more often than not there was something a person didn't want to see. They were quiet and fallen into their own thoughts; Jim feeling constant pain for the life and dreams he would never get. Sometimes, in Jim's darkest and loneliest hours, he wished that his desk at Dunder-Mifflin wouldn't have been the one next to Dwight's, and therefore preventing him being the person that Dwight grabbed when things got tight. Sometimes he just really wanted to be bitten and that Dwight would have to put him down. He would never voice these thoughts out loud; he knew that it was the coward in him that wanted the easy way out.

Jim let his eyes slide to Dwight, who didn't even bother trying to fall sleep. He was just watching in front of him with a dull expression. And Jim knew he could never do it to Dwight. Another thing he would never say out loud, but he would never intentionally leave Dwight alone to struggle in this world. Jim liked to think that it was because Dwight had saved him in the beginning, but it was so much more than that.

"Stop staring, you freak," Dwight snapped, and Jim immediately moved his gaze out of the car.

"You are just so beautiful I can't stop looking," Jim answered, but his words were lacking its usual playfulness.

Dwight just snorted and went back to him blank staring. Jim let his eyes wander back to the edge of the forest.

It must have been closer to the morning when Jim woke up to uneven tapping and quiet scratching. He fought to get rid of the last remains of sleep and scanned his surroundings. The sounds got only louder when he tried to make his eyes used to the darkness around them.

A louder bang sounded from his right, and Jim immediately turned to look at the window. It took him another second to realize that he was staring into the half rotten face of a walker. Jim jolted into action.

"DWIGHT!" he yelled, knowing there was no use of being quiet anymore, and reached to grab guns from the back seat. Quickly he checked that both of them were fully loaded, and then punched Dwight's arm. Jim knew that Dwight hardly slept anymore, but when he did he slept like he was dead.

Jim's eyes had already gotten use to the darkness and a quick glance through the windscreen showed that the few walkers that found them were inviting their friends. But Dwight was oblivious to what was happening around them, and just snored away gently.

"God dammit, Dwight! Wake up! We are under attack!" Jim yelled and cursed as he kept violently shaking Dwight. This was not the first time they had been surprised during their sleep, and Jim knew from experience that he could do nothing to fight the things off without Dwight being awake and controlling the car.

"Umm, what…?" Dwight mumbled as he finally started to wake up.

"Walkers! Drive, now!" Jim shouted. That was all that Dwight needed to jump into action. In a matter of seconds the car was alive, even though the driver was most likely still half asleep. Dwight snapped the lights on, but the second he did, Jim hoped he wouldn't have. Masses of walkers were wobbling towards them – some coming through the open windows of the cars, some coming from the edge of the forest. Jim swallowed hard as Dwight started to reverse the car and they could hear the cracking of bones as some of the undead got crushed under. Dwight looked as nauseated as Jim felt; it seemed like no matter how many months you fight for your life you never get use to it.

Jim rolled his window down when they were few feet away from the closest walker, and reached out. Before this all, Jim had never shot a gun. Now he took a deep breath and shot the nearest one between the eyes, and moved to the next one, before the first one even hit the ground. As Dwight drove, Jim took down as many walkers as he was able to.

He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he closed the window and sat back down. A quick glance to Dwight, told him that he was definitely feeling something as well. He was staring in front of him, without saying a word or even taking a glimpse of Jim. Both of his hands were squeezing the wheel so hard that his knuckles had turned white.

Jim concentrated on calming his breathing and let Dwight have his space; he was probably still confused and half asleep. Jim himself was still squeezing the guns on his lap, trying to hide the shaking his whole body was doing.

"Very good suggestion, Jim. I love waking up to a zombie attack. One of my favourite things ever," Dwight finally spoke, and Jim immediately wished he hadn't.

"It was a good idea and you know it. It was just bad luck that they noticed us. Or maybe you were screaming in your sleep again."

"Oh yes, I do scream in my sleep. And not you. 'Karen, Karen'," Dwight chuckled coldly and mimicked Jim's voice.

"Don't you dare! At least I woke up, and got us the hell out of there, unlike you who would have just slept through it all, and let us be eaten!" Jim's voice was rising. Dwight had no reason to bring Karen in to this.

"If you would just get over about the fact that you got your girlfriend eaten, no one would have needed to wake up!"

"Stop the car!"

Dwight slammed the breaks, and Jim got out of the car the second it stopped. The morning sun was peeking from behind the ripple of clouds, and that was lucky for Jim. He wouldn't have stayed in the car for another second no matter how dark, and being as angry as he was he might have got his wish from earlier.

He slammed the car door shut as hard as he could and walked briskly away.

Jim paced around for a bit, and ran both of his hands through his hair. He wished he could just walk away and never had to see Dwight's annoying face again, but he knew better than to do something so hasty. He had tried that a few times; Dwight had left him a few times, but it always ended up one of them getting into trouble and the other one saving them.

Plus all of the weapons and the food was Dwight's.

But it was so hard to think about it rationally. Dwight didn't talk about Karen ever, at least not after they had left his farm. He didn't talk about any of their old workmates, Jim had always assumed he felt the same guilt that was ravishing Jim from the inside. That maybe some had been alive when they fled their office and saved their own asses. That maybe they sentenced some people to their deaths, because they were scared.

Now it seemed that he didn't feel that though. That he blamed Jim for it… For Karen.

Oh, how Jim wished he could have screamed, but that would have been a bad idea. The walkers could hear it. More than anything Jim wanted to walk to Dwight, and yell to him. Maybe even punch him in the face. But they were all bad ideas and he needed to remind himself consciously that those kinds of actions would only make things worse.

So instead of screaming and punching Jim took few big steps even further away from the car and Dwight, and let himself fall down. He anxiously ran his fingers through his hair, and whenever a wave of emotion washed through him, he pulled. Jim had been able to avoid thinking about the specifics of _that day_ in quite a while, and he had learned to brush things off his mind as quickly as they came, but he was not able to brush off Dwight's words.

Now things came rushing into his mind, and all he could think about was the screams of the people in the office; Dwight's sudden action and the weapon that appeared into his hand in a second; Martin turning after being so unlucky to be in the toilet with Rolando; the blood gushing out of the Tony's neck when Rolando bit him; the horrified cry that came from Karen's office.

Jim had to shake his head violently and pull his head harder. His vision was filled with blood and guts, and he could hear the screams like it was happening all over again.

Suddenly Jim opened his eyes.

_How dare he_? Jim wanted to ask that from Dwight, but wouldn't because he felt like Dwight was right. He _had_ gotten Karen killed – no worse! He had gotten her eaten without even really trying to save her. Jim pulled his hair harder, trying to keep from screaming out of frustration.

Slowly Dwight got out of the car as well. Jim was a bit surprised that he was still there. In his anger he kind of hoped he wasn't. Maybe they were better without each other. Jim refused to even look at him. He was too angry for his words, and he knew that seeing that face would just make him angrier.

"We should move. I don't think we are far enough from the zombies yet," Dwight said in his normal tone, and Jim knew what that meant. He was ready to just drop it. Jim took few more breaths, and nodded. There was no time to hold on to grudges in this world. Although Jim so desperately wanted to.

Sighing Jim got up from the ground, and started to bury everything deep inside of him as he should have done in the first place.

They climbed back into the car and kept driving.

The day slowly dragged on, and the two men in the tiny car avoided talking and looking each other. It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last day they spent in the quiet. They shared a jar of sun ripened tomatoes sometime past noon, after they had crossed the Pennsylvania state line.

It was another hot summer's day, and it felt weird to Jim that days like that still existed. The trees were lush and flowers bloomed everywhere. It all felt so wrong, but still Jim kept his eyes on the outside world, and whenever he got a glimpse of a walker his stomach dropped a little bit. It only seemed natural, that when humans were in that state that the world should be dying. But instead, it was healing.

"Can we stop for a while? I would love a chance to stretch my legs, because I've been cramped in this tin can for hours now," Jim asked, and gave the car a disgusted look.

Jim had suggested Dwight many times that they should abandon Dwight's car and switch it to something roomier. It was basically their home after all, and so many nights Jim had wanted to just beat the crap out of the stupid thing, because he was unable to get comfortable. It was easier for Dwight because he was shorter, but Jim could barely even sit in that car without feeling uncomfortable. No matter what Jim said though, Dwight absolutely refused to even listen. He had loved his car even before the end of the world, but now it was the only thing that reminded him of his old life. But the car definitely had it good sides; it was fast, small and easy to get away from an ambush of walkers.

It wasn't even only that Jim was too tall for the car; it was the amount of stuff Dwight had managed to hoard in it. Yeah yeah, they might need it someday, and that was probably true, but what Jim wouldn't give to just empty the backseat on the side of the road and lie down there.

Even though Jim hated the car, but most of the time he said nothing about it. And when he did, he whined about it being uncomfortable, but not really demanding a change. Dwight let a lot of things Jim did slip without as much as a word, so it was a fair trade. They had learned to read each other better than either of them would have ever wanted, and in the world they lived in now, they had to let each other be – at least sometimes.

Dwight sighed dramatically and slowly stopped.

"You are such a baby," he said, but he seemed to enjoy having a little walk himself. They both took guns and knives with them when they exited the vehicle, just in case.

Jim stretched and started walking away from the car – and in a different direction than Dwight. No matter how long they had been driving together after the incident, Dwight's words still burned red in Jim's mind. So he took the risk of going alone, just to calm his mind a little.

It all seemed very quiet around him, and he took a turn left down a small dirt road unconsciously. He knew it was a bad idea, and that he put himself into a more of a danger turning off the main road alone, but still he wanted to see what was along it.

He walked for 10 minutes before he started to feel a bit stupid. There would most likely be nothing here, and he would just walk into another walker ambush. Jim stopped, and was just about to head back when he heard a voice. Automatically he pulled the knife from his belt and raised it. But the voice wasn't a grunt from an undead, but it was…. talking.

Jim was too far to tell who it was or what was said, but he was sure it was humans talking. So silently he started moving to the direction of the voices. He had to exit the road, which made him bit uneasy, but he wanted to know. He _needed_ to know. Taking extra care of not making any noise as he moved through the woods, he got closer, and finally he could hear what was said.

"Angela, I have done this alone so many times, and I know it is not very nice job, but you could help me. You are already here," a sweet female voice said and Jim detected some annoyance in it.

"I am not going to touch anyone's dirty clothes," another female said.

Slowly Jim took one more step, so he was hidden behind a tree, but was still able to see the speakers. Two women were standing on different sides of a pile of what looked like clothes. One of them was petite and blonde, and she wore a look of pure annoyance on her face. And the other one… Jim's heart skipped a beat when he looked at her. She was small, but not as small as the other one, and her hair was a mild shade of red.

"Okay, I understand, but someone needs to do this," the redhead said.

"Then you might as well get to work," the blonde answered.

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**A/N: **So that's the first chapter. Please drop a few lines to let me know what you thought. I will try to update next chapter next week. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Sorry the second chapter took forever to put up! Not a writing issue, more of an beta reader issue. (hint hint, if you want the job, contact me! I have a guy who goes through my grammatical mistakes, but I need someone tell me how the story is flowing! :)) Anyway, this chapter is more of an meet and greet. More action in chapter number 3!

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**Chapter 2**

Jim could have stood there all day watching how the situation unravelled, but he needed to get to Dwight. Dwight needed to know what Jim had stumbled upon. These were actual human beings. Human beings who were actually alive and not just drooling, flesh eating monsters. Without caring about anything, Jim turned around and sprinted back to the car. He was gone so fast that he missed the spooked jumps of the two women and their scared eyes scanning the forest patch he had just left.

Jim could barely see the car when he started yelling.

"Dwight! Where are you? Dwight!" he was excited and a little bit panicked all the same.

Dwight appeared from behind the car, first looking worried but after seeing that there was no one on Jim's heels, he looked mad.

"Stop yelling you idiot. Do you want to get eaten? If you do, fine by me, but I have gone to extraordinary lengths to keep you alive – not to mention that I've been sharing my food with you—"

Jim wasn't listening anything that Dwight said. He grabbed the other man's shoulders when he got close enough and shook it a little, just out of pure excitement.

"I saw other people. Women, by the water!" Jim blurted out. It had been so long since they had seen anyone else. So long in fact that it had entered both of their minds, and once even to their conversation, that maybe they were the only ones left.

Dwight didn't seem to be as excited as Jim. He looked worried.

"People? You sure?"

"Dwight, it might have been a while since we have seen anyone else, but I do recognize a human when I see one."

"Last time we saw someone it didn't end well," Dwight reminded Jim, and managed to make his excitement fade a little.

Jim acknowledged that Dwight was right. Last time they saw a group of others, and carefully tried to get closer to them, they had attacked. They had not cared that both of the men were very alive and not bitten. They were paranoid and sure that Jim and Dwight were out to get them.

"I know that Dwight! I was the one who almost got shot, remember? But I don't think it will do us any harm to try to get closer to these people," even as the words left Jim's mouth he didn't trust them. Trying could do them all kind of harm. Dwight rolled his eyes and pushed Jim's hands off his shoulders.

After last time they had agreed to just survive on their own. The walkers were bad enough, and neither of them felt that it was worth the risk to try to get close to other humans. But Jim was so hungry for human contact; he wanted to have a conversation that wasn't laced with sarcasm and full of digs at the other person.

"That is what you said last time as well. I don't understand why we need any other people to make things more complicated," Dwight didn't look very convinced.

Jim took a deep breath and put the knife back on his belt, while he was thinking of an answer. Dwight had a point. It _would_ be safer and smarter for them to just get into the car and choose another spot for a break. But Jim felt the need to at least try with these people. In the world, with what it was now, it was easy to forget how nice it was to meet new people, shake hands, and maybe make friends.

"Yes, I know. It might complicate things horribly, and they might be those kinds of people who want to kill us. But they might not be. They might be that kind who will invite us to sit with them around the fire, and we could safely have some hot food for once," Jim knew that Dwight craved for a hot meal; he always talked about how easy it would be to find some eggs in the forest and ready them on an open fire. But they never felt comfortable staying put and in the open for long enough to set up a fire.

"Fine. But you will walk directly in front of me, so if they start shooting, you will be the one almost getting shot this time as well," Dwight finally said after a short period of silence and without further discussion he pulled more guns out of the car.

He put a machete on his belt, to the left side and placed a handgun on the band of his jeans, hiding it with his shirt.

Jim hid his smile and just took the shotgun and the machete Dwight was offering.

"I hope you know how to use that," Dwight mumbled as he readied his crossbow.

Jim nodded, placing it on the same spot as Dwight had put his; it really was a miracle that neither of them had managed to break their belts yet. The sharp edges of the knives were constantly rubbing against them, and Dwight kept reminding himself that they needed proper sheaths for them, but thus far they never had remembered to search for them, or more likely never had time.

With extra care Jim made sure his gun was in good condition and fully loaded. He also pocketed more ammo, just in case. He might be hopeful about these women, but he wasn't stupid. It was very likely that the two Jim saw wasn't the full group, and it might be that the group as a whole wanted nothing to do with intruders.

"Okay, lead the way," Dwight said after he felt like he was carrying enough weaponry. He had slipped tiny knives into his socks and a few throwing stars into his pockets. He was holding his crossbow firmly on his hands, as he nodded to Jim to go on. And Jim did.

Dwight actually made Jim walk directly in front of him and he kept his crossbow raised at all times. Jim was taking it a bit easier, maybe just to try to show to Dwight that he was not scared or nervous, although the closer they got to the place where Jim had seen the women, the more panicked he felt. He tried to hide that from Dwight who seemed to be more jumpy than when they were attacked by walkers.

Jim was so nervous about all the aspects of this meeting. What if they tried to kill them? Or what if they _didn't_? He wasn't even sure if he knew how to have an actual mature conversation anymore; what he had with Dwight couldn't really count as normal conversations. They mostly just barked at each other.

"I think I was about here when I crossed into the forest," Jim said sounding confident, although he was everything but. He hadn't been exactly studying his surroundings the first time around. He had just dived in to the forest, driven by the surprised caused by them two ladies.

"You think? Good, I feel safe," Dwight sighed as he followed Jim into the forest.

"I am pretty sure. If you don't want to come, just go back to the car," Jim snapped.

"And leave you alone? You need someone to talk to them if you find them."

Jim saw the pond glimmering few feet away, and without a warning he stopped, so Dwight walked into him.

"Idiot."

"Okay, Dwight, I am going to do the talking. You would just ensure that we will get shot," Jim said, and started moving again before Dwight answered.

Jim walked out to the clearing, but instead of seeing the women, they saw nothing out of the ordinary.

It was nothing more than a small pond, approximately 31 feet wide. The water seemed shallow enough that a person could walk across it quite comfortably. There were no roads that lead in or out; just thick forest that began only six feet from the shore line of the pond.

Quietly, Jim sighed. He was sure that the women had been on the exact same spot that he was standing right now, but there was nothing left of them now.

"Your mind is starting to crumble," Dwight remarked as he walked to the water. Jim took a double look around himself, but he could see nothing that pointed out that there had been humans. He hated to think about it, but maybe Dwight was right.

When Dwight crouched down to study the water, Jim walked along the shore away from the direction they came from.

Jim didn't feel crazy, and he would be damned if he left here without proving to Dwight he wasn't. He also would feel better if he knew for sure that he still had everything in order in his brain. He wanted to at least try. It was obvious that where ever these two people were permanently located wasn't here; they had to have a camp somewhere. His eyes studied the scenery, that wasn't really anything else than thick forest, when he suddenly noticed a small path that curved to the left; it had been covered by some bushes so Jim couldn't see it from where he had been first standing, but his current standing point he could clearly see it. It would take them further away from their car and most likely further into danger. But Jim approached it with steady steps. It went uphill and it looked like there might be something at the end of it.

Maybe a suitable place for a camp.

"Where are you going?" Dwight's voice came from far behind Jim, and he didn't even bother to answer. "Jim?"

Jim kept walking and was pleased when he heard Dwight quickly catching up. They were good together, even though Jim hated to admit it. They had survived some dangerous situations because of each other.

"Jim, what do you think you are doing?" Dwight asked with a strained voice, but was smart enough not to yell anymore. Forests were hard places to fight; they had learnt that the hard way.

"Shh!" was Jim's only response when he was sure he could hear voices. Dwight made a sound that indicated that he would talk again, so Jim turned around keeping his finger on his lips. And sure enough, when they stopped and waited they could hear talking. They weren't that high yet, but Jim could already see a bit of a clearing ahead of them.

Jim raised his eyebrows at Dwight, and gave him a little smug smile, letting him know that he was not crazy. Dwight just answered with a small shrug. Jim turned back around and was about to walk straight to the clearing, but Dwight's hand on his arm stopped him.

"What?" Jim hissed as he turned to face Dwight once again.

"Raise your weapon and walk slowly. We need to surprise them," Dwight whispered back.

"What? I am not going there with my weapons raised!" Jim had difficulties keeping his voice down.

"We go unarmed; they will kill us in a second."

"We go _armed_; they will kill us in a second. Just calm down, hold your crossbow but do not point it at _anyone_," Jim exclaimed and walked away. Dwight's footsteps joined Jim's, although he was clearly unhappy.

There were several voices they could hear, and Jim felt butterflies forming in the pit of his stomach, the closer they got. It would be a lie to say that he was not scared to take this risk with these people. But he needed to believe that there was some good left in the world.

He was also nervous that these were completely nice people, and Dwight would ruin everything by waving his crossbow at their faces. Jim knew Dwight was just scared and didn't want to be surprised by anything, but he surely hope he would be able behave this time.

Dwight was close behind Jim, and they walked to the clearing together. Jim held on tightly to his shotgun, still trying to look like he wasn't a threat. Dwight wasn't taking Jim's orders: he kept his weapon up and ready to fight.

"Put it down!" Jim hissed, but it made Dwight only raise the bow a bit more. Jim swore under his breath, but let it go. He would then later blame Dwight, when they were figuring out how to get bullets out of their skins.

When they got a better view of the clearing, it made them both halt. It looked like a tiny village that had unexpectedly just sprung up. There were at least ten tents, and one van behind them all. They noticed a small dirt road leading up to it, and they exchanged looks. It would have probably been the next one, from where they came up.

But it wasn't only tents and a car, but people. A lot of them! Well, maybe ten or so, but more than Jim or Dwight had been expecting. No one seemed to pay any attention to them. Jim snuck a little look towards Dwight, who happened to be glancing at Jim at the same time. It was weird that two people could sneak up to the camp without being noticed; especially since they weren't even trying to be clever or tried to surprise them. It all screamed about bad security and it made Jim fee uneasy. Bad security was the biggest mistake a camp full of people could do.

After they had stood there for a minute, Jim took a big step forward before he could actually think it through, and spoke up:

"Excuse me for—um, disrupting your peace, but we," Jim awkwardly pointed himself and Dwight who was staring at the people, "happened to wander to your camp, and where just wondering if we could, maybe— stay for a while?"

Everyone at the clearing stopped, and turned towards them. Some of them looked scared, and spooked out, but Jim only saw the woman he had seen at the pond. Her hair caught light just right, making it seem redder than it was and for a second it became hard for Jim to concentrate. Then she was pushed behind a man who was a lot bigger than her, and Jim wasn't sure was he being protective or possessive.

"Who are you?" he barked, and Jim turned to look at Dwight, just in time to see him take aim at the man. The man took a step forward and pulled a knife from his belt.

"Okay, easy now!" Jim tried to calm the situation, and pushed Dwight's crossbow down a bit.

"How can you not expect them to kill us when you do that?" Jim hissed between his teeth, and then turned around to meet the man.

"We don't want any trouble. We just want to spend a few moments with other people. We haven't met anyone in such a long time. We are not bad people, I swear, and we don't seek to harm you. I'm Jim. Jim Halpert. This is Dwight Schrute."

"Okay. Now you can get the hell out of here!" the man started to raise his voice, which made everyone around him uneasy. They glanced around themselves to the woods, hoping that no walkers were around to hear them.

Jim's eyes automatically looked for the woman, and to his surprise she was looking at him. He locked eyes with her for a second – he noticed the amazing colour of green they were – and she didn't look scared. She looked like she was a bit sorry.

"Well, I get that you don't want strangers wandering into your group. I understand that completely. But all I am asking for is few minutes so we can rest," Jim tried to reason with the man, who he assumed was the leader.

"Roy, maybe we should let them. They don't seem evil," the redhead said and took a step closer to the man whose name was Roy. She did take a curious look at Dwight, who still hadn't said a word, but had just stared at them.

"Pam, stop it. You wouldn't possibly know that," he said without even really looking at her, and the said louder again, "Go away!"

Even Jim looked around a little worried; it seemed like this guy had no idea where they were or how much of trouble he could be getting everyone into.

"Please, don't yell. If you really want we will go, but we are asking you to reconsider," Jim said and tried to sound calm. He was nearing a panic now. Dwight wasn't helping by just staring at them, and pointing his arrows at them.

"I said; go away!" Roy yelled.

"Roy!" the redhead exclaimed in fear and anxiously looked around.

"What is going on here?" a man suddenly emerged from one of the tents. He had black hair, and he was wearing a worn out Hawaii T-shirt, with beige shorts and flip-flops. Jim couldn't help but to raise his eyebrows. That was the worst outfit one could wear in a post-apocalyptic world.

The whole group seemed to collectively groan a little, and the woman, who Jim now knew was named Pam, stepped forward.

"Oh, Michael, umm, these men stumbled through the woods to our little clearing and asked to stay with us for a while," she explained smiling, and motioning towards Jim and Dwight. Jim waved a little, and Dwight seemed to be having a hard time deciding whether he should be take this new man into his aim instead of Roy or not.

"Well, what is all the yelling about?" Michael asked looking around the group.

"They are strangers. And possibly dangerous. I told them to beat it," Roy answered.

"What is wrong with you? That is not how we treat people around here!" Michael sighed and looked very exhausted to the way things were handled.

"I take a short nap, and everything falls apart without me. Well, I am here now!" he declared and clapped his hands together. Jim couldn't help his frown as he glanced at Dwight. Obviously Roy was not the boss, but instead this crazy man in a flowery t-shirt was. But Dwight wasn't looking at Jim, he was studying this new man, and surprisingly, letting his hold of the crossbow slip.

"Sir, we were just wondering if we could just stop here for a while, and see how things go. I know we are armed, but I think it is stupid to be unarmed in this world," Jim tried to sound calm, and he even smiled a little, looking around him. He actually got a few agreeing nods from the crowd.

Suddenly Dwight pushed past Jim, and walked to Michael.

"I am Dwight K. Schrute and this is my humble servant-"

"Not his servant, though."

"-Jim Halpert, and we would love to stay and mingle with your people for a while."

Dwight took a little bow, and Jim had to pretend to cough to hide his laugh. He had not seen Dwight behave this ridiculously since the CEO of Dunder-Mifflin visited their branch, and Dwight had tried to make him replace Karen with him. Jim realized fast that Dwight wanted to rise in the hierarchy of the camp and that was probably why he behaved so ridiculously around Michael. Just like during the good old times.

Jim caught Pam's eye which was also looking away and biting her lip, trying not to laugh. Jim raised his eyebrows at her a little, and she covered her mouth, but her eyes gave her laughter away.

Michael did a little dramatic bow as well, and answered with a weird accent:

"Well of course my friend. I am Michael Scott, and I will be your host this evening."

Jim eyes travelled to Pam, to see her reaction, but instead he saw Roy turning to her and grabbing her arm; "Come on, Pam."

Awkwardly, Jim turned back to the weird play unravelling before his eyes. Michael had now finished with his bow and was walking towards Jim. Michael extended a hand, and Jim grabbed it gratefully.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Jim, and thanks so much for letting us stay. Really appreciate it," Jim smiled and was a bit surprised how skilfully he still knew to talk.

"No problemo, my new friend. I am so sorry for that idiot yelling at you. He is not the smartest," Michael said, and Jim just awkwardly nodded and smiled. He didn't feel like it was his place to voice out his opinions of anybody. But yes, he did think that Roy was a bit of an idiot.

"Okay! C'mon, let's meet everybody!" Michael turned around to meet the people that were still there to watch what was happening, "Okay, you already kind of met Pam and Roy. Roy was the grumpy mean guy, and Pam is the group's hottie."

"And here we have Creed," Michael led Jim and Dwight in to the group of people where Roy and Pam had just been. Creed was by far the oldest in the group, but he seemed to be a mellow guy. He was smiling when Jim grabbed his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Jim said politely and tried to smile a little.

Dwight made absolutely no effort of being polite. He had thrown his weapon on his shoulder and was still holding it with his right hand. His left hand was firmly placed on his hip, as he looked Creed up and down.

"What's up?" Creed greeted him, but Dwight just lifted his head a bit higher without an answer. Jim couldn't stop the eye-roll. He was so sure that they would be thrown out of the camp by tonight, because Dwight wouldn't be able to behave.

Michael on the other hand wasn't really paying attention to anyone. He seemed to enjoy being the host as he did a little skip when they walked to the person a few steps away from Creed. The man they met next was Hispanic, and he was smiling to them before they even reached him.

"Hey," Jim said and extended his hand to the man.

"Hey, I'm Os—"

"This man is Oscar and he is Mexican. Also he is gay, so better watch out boys. He might have surprise for you," Michael said and laughed. Jim glanced at Michael and then back to Oscar.

"Nice to meet you. Um..," Jim said. Struggling to find something else to say, Jim just let go of Oscar's hand. Michael had made sure that everybody would get uncomfortable – except for himself of course.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too. It is great to know that there are still people out there," Oscar just answered trying to fight through the embarrassment Michael managed to cause, "Most of us don't mind new people at all, since only a small part of the people here were in the original group, that consisted of…"

"Blah blah blah! Booring!" Michael yelled interrupting Oscar and pulling Jim with him. Jim threw a glance behind him to see that Oscar had extended his hand to Dwight as well, but Dwight was ignoring it.

"Just remember not to try any funny business with me," Dwight remarked as he walked past Oscar. Oscar looked after him and shook his head a little.

"Oh hel-lo!" a female voice said, and Jim snapped his head to that direction. In front of him was standing a redhead, who was immediately eyeing him up, and giving him a wink.

"Hey..," Jim answered, and swallowed. He was already a bit worried about the mix of people in here.

"This is Meredith. She came to us when Roy and Darryl found her on one of their runs. Apparently, she was passed out in a closet at Wal-Mart with Jack Daniels bottle," Michael introduced the redhead, and Jim couldn't understand why that man felt the need to give so much information during the introductions.

Meredith didn't seem to care what Michael said about her. Instead she just shrugged and asked:

"You wouldn't have any booze on you, would you?"

"Um, no… Sorry, it's not really something we deem necessary…," Jim answered and tried to smile apologetically, although he considered briefly turning around and just walking away. Why would anyone want to get drunk, when it would probably get you killed?

Michael was looking around himself and suddenly said:

"We are missing someone… Hey, you guys mingle! I'll be right back!" and was off. Jim looked after him, but was pulled back to look at Meredith when she talked:

"It's alright. Maybe I can get some on the next run."

"No one would waste their precious time getting alcohol for a lousy bum," Dwight scoffed and walked past Meredith without a second glance. Jim locked eyes with an offended Meredith and just made a small shrug.

"God, Meredith! Stop being such a drag. These guys don't want to hear about your alcohol addiction! Go away!" an Indian woman yelled as she was walking towards the new comers, with an African-American man in her tow.

She looked very angry at Meredith and as she walked towards Jim, she pushed Meredith out of her way with one smooth movement.

"Hello. I heard that we had new people here. My name is Kelly, and this is my boyfriend Darryl. I am so glad that we are finally getting some new people in here! It is getting so _boring_ with these same people to talk with everyday, and everyone is so _gloomy _all the time. I get it that it is hard and that people are dying left and right, but come on! Is it really worth it to just mope around all day?" Kelly said.

Jim opened his mouth to say something, but then she started again.

"I hope you are more interesting than the last new person we got," she glanced at Meredith who had now wandered to Creed, "I mean yes, I get it, she has had a hard life, but no one cared whether or not she had an alcohol problem. The day she got here she tried to sleep with Darryl, and I was like _no way, bitch_."

Dwight appeared next to Jim, and looked at Kelly for a long while, then interrupted her:

"Do you ever stop?"

Kelly turned to look Dwight.

"What?"

"Do you ever stop?"

"I heard you! Who do you think you are? You just got here, and you are already making enemies. Darryl, get him," Kelly crossed her arms, and the man behind her sighed.

"Kelly, calm your crazy," Darryl said and then extended his hand first to Jim and then to Dwight, "I'm Darryl. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Jim. Nice to meet you too," Jim smiled and let out a sigh of relief for meeting someone who seemed to be relatively normal in this camp.

"Darryl! Argh!" Kelly yelled and stomped away.

"Sorry about that. She is crazy," Darryl apologized.

"No worries," Jim smiled.

"You should control your woman better. That way she is going to get you into a lot of trouble with the dead and the alive," Dwight remarked.

"Darryl, my man!" Michael yelled from behind them, and he was ushering the petite blond woman in front of him to meet the new men, although she looked like she would rather be anywhere else than there.

"Michael," Darryl answered.

"I am glad you met Darryl. He is my brotha! We use to work in the same place. Kind of, and we have been together from the start!" Michael explained. Darryl gave a forced smile.

"Yeah… I better go check on Kelly so she doesn't do anything stupid," Darryl said and left the scene quickly.

"Catch you later, my man!" Michael yelled after him, and then he grabbed Angela's shoulders from behind moving her in front of him.

"And this eye-candy is Angela."

Now Jim finally knew the name of the other woman who had been at the pond. Jim politely greeted her, and he also noticed that Dwight's greeting was a lot warmer than it had been to anyone else. Angela, though, only gave them a hard look and then turned to Michael.

"Michael, I really think we should talk about this. As a group, and take a vote. You can't let two strangers in here. Who knows, they might murder us in our sleep!" she talked to Michael like Jim and Dwight wouldn't have even been there.

"We will not-," Jim started, but Dwight cut him short.

"I guarantee to you, we will not be murdering anyone. If I needed to murder anyone from here, I would murder Jim," Dwight promised.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Jim. If killing you means I can be part of this, I will do it."

"No one is going to kill or murder anyone. We are a mellow bunch, so just cool it," Michael said, "And Angela, calm down. Don't get your panties in a bunch over this."

Angela gave Michael one last evil look before turning to the new comers.

"I do hope you are not bad news. We have it hard enough as it is," Angela informed them before leaving. Jim felt like yelling after her, that none of the people left in the world had it very easy, but he knew he wasn't there yet. If they were to stay with this group, maybe he would get there.

"Who is that?" Jim suddenly asked as one more man emerged from one of the tents.

"Ugh. He is the reason all of this is happening. He is the worst. He is the one God tried to wipe off the Earth with this disease, but has so far failed. I will throw him to the zombies one day," Michael's voice was laced with disgust**. **

"Ummm," Jim had no idea how to respond. It seemed like Michael was being too harsh, but then again Jim didn't know this man, who was now approaching them.

"Oh, hi. I heard that there were some new comers in town. My name is Toby, nice to—," the man started, but Michael started to yell over him, which got yet another eyebrow raise from Jim.

"Blaah blaah, Toby. No one cares! Go away!" Michael yelled, and Toby looked at Jim apologetically, before shrugging and leaving.

"Okay then… I think we should go and fetch our car, so we have it a bit closer in case….," Jim let the rest of his sentence hang in the air, because he was pretty sure everyone knew what he was referring to.

"In case of what?" Michael asked instead making Jim once again wonder, how these people had chosen this guy to lead them in a crisis like this.

"In case we get attacked."

"Attacked by who…?"

All Jim could do was stare. This guy was unbelievable. After a short silence, however, Michael gasped in understanding and laughed.

"Oh, in case we get attacked! I get it now. Blaah! I wouldn't worry about it too much. We haven't had an attack in quite some time."

Jim found that hard to believe as he looked around himself and saw raw sadness in people's features, and a few very mean stares from whoever heard his comment.

"Anyway, I think it would be better if it was closer. Coming, Dwight?" Jim started to move towards where they came from.

"We will be right back," Dwight informed Michael before jogging after Jim.

"Oh hey, thanks for volunteering to sacrifice me for your own personal gain. That was very nice of you," Jim said after Dwight caught up with him.

"Yeah, no problem. Anytime."

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**A/N:** Just to remind you, if you read this, please leave a word to tell me what you thought about it. Also I totally love all of my readers and we should be friends 3


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Here is the third chapter in the honor of The Office day. I hope all you Office fans out there are handling it well. Loads of love 3

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Jim and Dwight decided not to drive their car all the way to the camp, but instead they parked it on the road leading to the clearing. There was another car on that road as well; most likely one belonging to the group. Not all of them would even fit into the van that was at the clearing.

Even though Dwight had found something special in the group – especially in Michael – something which Jim was still looking for, he agreed that they should stay alert. Leaving the car a walking distance away from the clearing was part of that; it was packed full of weapons and food, and it might be a temptation for some people in the group to steal from them.

Dwight also overdressed himself with weapons attaching two guns to his holster on his hips, and the shotgun to a special holster on his chest. He hid even more knives into both of his socks, and grabbed a crossbow into his hand. Jim politely declined from Dwight's offer to holster him up. Instead he took an ordinary knife to his belt; Jim and Dwight had learned, the hard way, that firing guns only attracted more undead freaks to the scene, so they put their trust mostly in quieter weapons, like knives and crossbows. Guns were for emergencies only.

With concentration and carefulness Dwight placed the arrows to their respectful places on top of the crossbow, and Jim could do nothing else than give him a quizzical look.

"It is vital that the arrows are lined right so they are easy to use in an emergency. It's not like I have time to do this when the zombies are attacking. And besides, you will be thanking me when my careful planning will stop that Roy guy from smashing your face in, because you're drool over his girl," Dwight said and started to walk away.

Jim stood completely stunned for a second and then turned to go after Dwight.

"I'm not drooling over anybody. And you are more in danger of getting your face smashed in once the people hear you talk," Jim shouted after him, but couldn't help the flash of Pam's laughing green eyes that appeared before his eyes. Inwardly he groaned as he made his way to the clearing after Dwight.

Jim didn't even bother trying to stay with Dwight as he forced himself into Michael's company with a confident stride. For a second Jim considered joining some of the others. Maybe Meredith and Creed who where having a conversation near one of the tents; maybe Kelly who seemed to be talking Darryl's ears off; maybe Angela or Toby who both were sitting by themselves. Looking at the group of random people, Jim decided against it. None of them looked like they had anything common with Jim, so he casually checked the clearing for Pam.

Jim hadn't yet had a conversation with her. Well they hadn't even exchanged 'hey's' yet, but Jim was sure that if they ever did, they would get along great.

When Jim's eyes landed on her, as she was standing next to a tent that Jim could only assume was hers, he could not kill the smile blossoming on his lips. Then Pam turned to look at him, slowly melting into a tiny smile herself. Her hand looked so small when she waved at Jim, and Jim's feet moved before he had time to even think about it. Pam also took a step towards him, obviously interested to meet him, but was stopped as Roy exited the tent she had been standing near.

Again, Jim's feet made the decision for him when he stopped at the first glimpse of Roy. He told himself, that he was silly for not going there anyway, Roy or not Roy, but he had a feeling that Roy wasn't that fond of him.

It was proven right when an apparent heated conversation started between the couple. Jim couldn't tear his eyes away when Pam made a motion against him, but found quickly the ground interesting when Roy gave him an ugly look. The conversation was soon over, and Pam was whisked away to an opposite way from Jim. She threw Jim one last look and shrugged.

So solitude it was for Jim, which he really didn't mind. He walked to the edge of the forest, and sat down in a sunny spot after checking that nothing was behind him. The spot was perfect to keep an eye out for the camp, and watch the others go about their business.

The group seemed to work surprisingly well together, even though there were some clear personality clashes. It went from Angela's eye rolls to Meredith's straight out accusations, to Michael's clear hate for Toby.

"Quite the show, eh?" came voice from next to Jim that caused him to jump and automatically his hand flew to the handle of his knife. But it was only Creed standing next to him just in the shadow where he had appeared out of nowhere. Jim did a double take towards the people on the clearing and noticed that Meredith was indeed lacking a conversation partner.

Jim wasn't happy with himself that someone had been able to sneak up on him. Had it been someone or something else, he would be already dead.

"Sorry?" Jim asked, being unsure what the old guy was referring to. He also eased his grip from his knife, but didn't move it too far away; one could never be too careful.

"This camp. Sometimes, I sneak away for a while and watch people interact, and sometimes even watch them fight. Oh, it's a good show," Creed explained and sat down to the ground. So obviously Jim wasn't granted his solitude, but he had to do some mingling. Swallowing his sigh, Jim silently willed Darryl or maybe even Pam to come and save him from this crazy old man, and his weird ramblings. Probably pretty much everyone else would be a relief.

"I don't know if would I call it a show. It's just a group of people trying to survive in this crazy world. But I do enjoy seeing actual people, and watching that there are still some normal human behaviour," Jim answered very politically, and avoided sounding creepy like Creed. His thoughts briefly stopped at his and Dwight's usual behaviour and he was damn sure that it wasn't normal. But he was also sure that Dwight had never been normal.

"Oh yes. There is definitely some human behaviour still left in this camp. Meredith mostly takes care of that," Creed chuckled and gave a little wave to the redhead who just happened to be looking at them.

Slowly Jim turned his head towards where Creed was looking and to his horror Meredith was swaying towards them. Creed's words started to make sense in Jim's head when he thought about all the winks and suggestive hand movements Meredith had given him. He swallowed hard and took back his wishes that someone would join him and Creed. Only Creed was better than Creed and Meredith.

"She is quite the woman. Reminds me of some of the girls I met back in the 60s when we were touring the country," Creed added, but before Jim had time to ask any of the dozens of questions that popped into his head because of Creed's sentence, Meredith reached them.

"Hey there, fresh meat," Meredith greeted with a hungry smile dancing on her lips.

"Hey," Jim answered and tried to look unaffected by Meredith's staring.

"Getting some sun, are we?" she asked with a smirk and proceeded to sit down without invitation. Jim looked up to the sky when Meredith's skirt revealed a bit too much in the process, and he also kept sure that he kept looking around because there was no way he wanted to see what was under there.

"I'm not. Sun has a weird affect to my skin. I feel very hot and uncomfortable in my own skin whenever I expose myself to the sun too much," Creed said nodding enthusiastically to make his point.

Suddenly Meredith's hand was on Jim's shin – under his jeans.

"I don't think anyone would object you sunbathing without a shirt," she purred and eyed him up.

Jim was on his feet at once.

"Umm, thanks I guess, but I really need to check on Dwight," Jim said quickly and left the scene fast. He was pretty sure Dwight was fine, but he was going to spend some time on it anyway.

"What a surprise you are already chasing tail," Angela's disapproving voice came from Jim's left after mere six steps away from Meredith and Creed.

"It won't help your popularity with the group," she stated and cocked her head a little.

"I'm not chasing tail! We were just talking and she… Why am I explaining myself to you?" Jim said and just walked away. He could hear Angela making a surprised sound, but he just kept walking. This bunch was completely crazy and he was wondering if it might be better for him and Dwight to just disappear into the night.

But Dwight was nowhere to be seen. Irrationally Jim slid into a slight panic. For so long he and Dwight had been forced to see each other every minute of everyday, and now when he was absent, Jim's mind started racing. He would never forgive himself, if Dwight got himself killed, while he was getting hit on.

"Dwight!" Jim called out, but got no answer. He looked around himself, and yelled again;

"Dwight!"

"What are you yelling about?" Dwight angry voice came from behind Jim, and in that moment, Jim could have hugged him. In matter of seconds, he had convinced himself that Dwight had been in danger.

"I just... couldn't see you," Jim said, and felt stupid after hearing Dwight just scoff.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you. I feel like you are the one I should be worried about, since you so carelessly give out our location, but I have no time for babysitting," Dwight told Jim.

"Okay, let's count. How many times you have had to save my ass?" Jim challenged.

"Well the first obvious time was back at Utica-"

"And I returned the favour a second after."

"-there was the time at the farm-"

"Doesn't count as saving because we were both in quite the trouble then."

"-the time you fell asleep your window open-

"It was you who told me to open the window."

"-and the time when you walked off screaming that you will rather get eaten than spend another second with me. Never have been so wrong, have you?" Dwight said smugly and swung his crossbow on his shoulder.

But Jim wasn't hearing him anymore. Pam and Roy had just walked past and now Pam was walking towards the pond alone, her arms full of clothes, while Roy turned to walk back.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do that. Thanks, Dwight," Jim said, patted his free shoulder and turned away, leaving a very confused Dwight behind.

"What? Jim, let's do what?" but Dwight words were not heard as Jim jogged to Roy.

"You're Roy, right?" Jim asked when he deliberately set himself on Roy's path.

"So?" he asked looking Jim from head to toe; only stopping for a second at is gun.

"That girl who just went by herself to the pond; she is your girlfriend, right?"

"So?" Roy asked again, making it harder for Jim to keep his cool and not just hit him in the nose, for making her go down there all alone.

"Well, I'm just wondering, are you going to go with her? At times like these no one should go anywhere alone. She might get attacked," Jim presented his point in a way that probably wouldn't make Roy jealous.

"I have no time to sit around and watch her do laundry!" Roy exclaimed and it took all Jim's strength not to tell him that he was a jerk.

"I could go. I'm new here so I won't get any real duties in a while, which makes me perfect choice to do the boring chores," Jim kept his tone light and hid his excitement. He could see from Roy's face that he was buying all the bullshit Jim was feeding him.

"Yeah, that sounds cool. It would be a shame if something happened to Pam. She is good one to spend the time with, if you get what I mean," Roy laughed.

Jim wished he didn't have to laugh with Roy, because he did know what Roy meant, and it didn't even matter that if Pam turned out to be a bitch. Nothing like that should be ever said about any woman.

"Okay! I'll head down there!"

"I hope for your sake that she doesn't take as long as usual. Sometimes she can take hours!"

"I would definitely not want that to happen!" Jim could hear how fake his laughter was as he bumped Roy's waiting fist. Thankfully after that he was able to walk away and let the horrible laughter die.

Dwight was still at the spot where Jim had left him and he just looked at Jim with confusion obvious on his features.

"I'll talk to you later, Dwight," Jim said. Dwight looked at him for a second before nodding.

Jim started to make his way towards the path slowly at first, as to not blow his cover with Roy, and when it was absolutely sure that the other man couldn't see him, he hurried his steps being genuinely worried about the poor woman.

From what Roy said, it sounded like this happened often. '_Sometimes she can take hours_.' Jim wondered how many times of those Roy had actually been worried, or gone down there to see what too so long.

It didn't take Jim long to get the pond into his view, and there she was. She had rolled her jeans up, and she was standing in the pond humming very quietly, while working very slowly. She didn't look like someone living in this unhappy world, she actually looked quite content.

"Hey," Jim said as he walked to the pond. Pam turned to look at him, looking a bit guilty.

"Hey! Jim, right?" Pam smiled and Jim nodded, "I'm Pam. Did they send you to check on me?" Her hands worked a bit faster on the clothes.

Jim kicked his shoes off, bent down and rolled his jeans up.

"Nope. I am actually on a top secret mission here, and it includes keeping away all the possible walkers from the highly efficient laundry lady," Jim said with a smile as he walked into the pond.

"You don't say? This laundry lady must be something very special then, huh?" Pam answered, and Jim had to turn around to see her facial expression. She was smiling and she had a twinkle in her eye.

"I wouldn't know. I have just arrived here. You might have not noticed it – there was this big brute that wanted to kill us and then there was this weird little man in a Hawaii shirt to put him into his place."

Pam's laugh was like a breeze of fresh air and it caught Jim off guard. He had expected them to get along, but there was just something very special about her.

"That big brute happens to be my fiancé Roy, and the weird little man is my boss. Well ex-boss, I suppose now."

"Oh yeah?" Jim ignored the sinking feeling that appeared to his stomach at the word fiancé and walked out of the water. He smiled a little when he noticed that the clothes had slipped off Pam's had altogether now. Jim sat down to the edge of the water, so that he could still dip his toes in.

"Yeah. But you are not the only one here with weird encounters for the day. I, for one, met two guys who appeared out of thin air to our well hid camp. One very sophisticated looking guy, who still introduced himself with his last name and other one was this weird tall guy," Pam smiled sheepishly, when Jim couldn't help but to laugh. He rarely was the butt of the joke when there was an option between him and Dwight.

"The tall one is a weird one. Especially after having to put up with his end-of-the-world partner for so long."

Pam let out another laugh, as she concentrated to washing the rags for a while again.

A silence fell, and Jim racked his brains for anything to say. In the end he went with the only thing he knew for sure was a conversation topic in this world:

"So…. What's your weapon of choice?"

He immediately regretted the words as they came from his mouth and he felt so stupid saying it, especially when Pam looked up and seemed confused.

"Choice of weapon," Jim pulled out his knife of his belt to wave it at Pam.

"Oh, of course. Well I don't have one. Roy thinks women should leave the fighting for men," Pam explained and blushed a little.

"That's ridiculous. What happens when you don't have a man to protect you? What happens when it's you against a walker and no one there to help you? Roy is a big guy, he could probably take on few walkers without having a weapon, but all you could do is run!" Jim talked before he had time to think about it. Seeing Pam turning her face back to the clothes and awkwardly biting her lip, he hoped that he hadn't said anything, but he just couldn't stop it. That Roy seemed to be a major jerk, and one day Jim just might tell him that.

"What about you?" Pam asked and Jim was genuinely surprised to hear her voice. He thought that maybe he would have to just awkwardly sit there in silence till she was ready.

"My weapon of choice, you mean? To be honest, I am flexible. I usually have a knife and a gun on me; a knife as the silent choice, and a gun as the long distance or emergency choice. But as of today, I was handed a machete, because Dwight thinks it is better than normal knife. The funny thing is that he had been preparing for the end of the world for years – he was prepared for every scenario possible – so he had it all. Still has, actually. In the car," Jim talked and stifled a laugh that came from the memory of first time seeing Dwight's 'panic room'.

"What?" Pam asked from the water and had once again forgotten the clothes that she was supposed to be washing. They were floating around her on the water.

"I was just remembering the first time Dwight introduced me to his 'panic room' and how full it was, of everything. Even things you don't think you would need. He had boxes and boxes of tampons. Claimed that once the word got out all the women would be begging to get some."

Pam threw her head back in laughter.

"I swear you are just making this up!"

"I wish! But I am not. He even grabbed some with him when we had to flee, I can show you – they are still in the trunk!" Jim was laughing as well. He enjoyed making her laugh and forget about everything.

"So what is the story there? With you and Dwight? You lovers or something?" Pam asked. She was standing in the water to her mid calf and she had her hands firmly placed on her hips. But her eyes sparkled and her lips were curved into a teasing smirk.

"Thanks a lot Pam, for getting that image into my head!" Jim pressed his palms into his eyes, "We are not gay. At least I'm not. Can't be too sure about Dwight."

"So what then?"

"Okay, to make a long story short, me and Dwight use to be a salesmen in a same paper company—"

"No way! I use to be a receptionist at a paper company. What was your company's name?"

"Dunder-Mifflin."

"What!" Pam ran out of the water and fell onto her knees next to Jim. Being that close to her, made Jim's heart raced a little faster. "Which branch?"

"Utica," Jim furrowed his brow, not sure where this was going.

"Scranton branch!" Pam yelled. Jim lifted one of his eyebrows and shrugged, showing that he was still not following.

"I worked in Dunder-Mifflin, Scranton branch! So did Roy, in the warehouse, and so did Creed and Toby. And Michael, he was our manager!"

Jim couldn't help but to smile.

"That is unbelievable!" What really was unbelievable to him was that he had been so close to this woman in a world where was hope, but by the weirdest twist of fate they ended up so far away from each other.

"And that also explains Dwight interest in Michael. We had a female manager in Utica, which Dwight hated. Karen…," Jim needed to cough to get over the awkwardness it caused to him to say her name, "Karen was a good manager, just the wrong gender for Dwight to take orders from."

Pam nodded as an answer and Jim hoped she hadn't noticed the toughness of his voice. He didn't like to talk about Karen.

"Tell me more about you and Dwight," she demanded as she plopped to properly sit on the ground.

Jim thought about his words for a moment. He had no idea how to explain his and Dwight's relationship.

"We were never friends. We still aren't. I think we have stayed with each other because it's safer to be together than alone. And we helped each other out of the office when the hell broke loose. But before anything went down, we had this back and forth prank thing. "

"Pranks? I love pranks! What were your best ones?" Pam's voice was eager. Jim looked her in the eye and smiled. Where had she been when things were okay?

"One of my go to pranks is – was – to put his things into jell-O. Calculator, stapler, stuff like that," Jim told, and remembered the countless times Dwight were furious over finding his things in jell-O. Pam giggled next to him.

"Sounds like fun. Wish I had been there to see that!" she exclaimed and sighed.

"That would have been fun. Maybe we could have pranked him together."

"Maybe we could have, yes."

A silence fell upon them as they were thinking about all the things they could have done. Jim briefly thought how much better his days would have been with her around.

"Hey, Pam?"

"Hmm?"

Jim turned the knife he still was holding around and offered it to Pam the handle first.

"I know what Roy said, and I know you think he is right, but I don't. No one, absolutely no one, should be walking around as an easy target. Especially you. You might the only thing that's going to keep me sane here," Jim smiled and lifted the knife closer to Pam, "Roy can't decide these things to you."

Slowly Pam reached out and took the knife into her hand.

"I know he can't. I have known it for a while. That's why when I am forced to come here alone, I mostly just sit idly by and wet the clothes a little, so it seems like they have been washed," Pam shrugged as she studied the blade. Jim laughed.

"Roy did say that you might spend hours down here. I guess that's the point, eh?" Jim laughed, and Pam's eyes lightened up a bit again. She smiled and nodded.

"Guilty as charged."

They exchanged smiles and then they both turned away simultaneously.

"I saw you and that other girl, Angela, down here earlier," Jim admitted.

"That was you? You startled us really badly! We just grabbed our things and ran, but everyone refused to come back down with us. That was the only time I have ever managed to convince Angela to come here with me. I don't know how long you spied on us, but in the end she refused to do anything, and now she refuses to come with me again. So, someone has to do it. Plus, Michael still sometimes treats me like I still am his secretary, " Pam explained.

"First of all, I did not spy on you. I just happened to hear you and then I wanted to know who was talking. Second of all, you really should stand up for yourself. Do you really want to be treated like secretary?"

Pam just glanced at Jim.

"I don't mind coming down here. Sometimes it beats being up there," Pam told Jim, and she looked hurt. Either because of Jim's words, or by something else that goes on in their camp.

"Anyway, I should get this done, so we don't have to be here all night," Pam said pointing to the clothes floating around in the pond. She got up and placed her new knife to her belt. Jim wanted to point out that he wouldn't mind just chat with her for the whole night.

"Was Karen more than your manager?" she suddenly asked before moving.

Jim was completely caught off guard. So much for hoping that she hadn't noticed his voice changing when talking about her.

"She was. In one point. We had been split a while before everything went down," Jim told Pam. She nodded and made her way to the clothes. Jim felt bad for not telling her the whole truth, but he also knew that their friendship was very new, and telling the truth might not be a good idea yet. Even though he hadn't lied to her, he hadn't told the whole truth either.

The whole Karen ordeal was something that Jim avoided thinking about. It always made him feel so hollow, and now maybe Pam would be there to help him heal. But he wasn't sure could he tell her the truth. Well, there weren't a lot of things to be sure about in the unsure world.

Jim's eyes travelled along the woods, and again he briefly wondered whether or not he and Dwight should stay. It was pretty surroundings, if nothing else.

Lazily, Jim turned his eyes back to Pam, who was completely oblivious to the world as she walked in the pond picking up the stray clothes.

It took Jim a second to register the walker making its way to Pam. He knew that he would never make it running as he scrambled himself off the ground.

"Pam! Duck!" Jim yelled as he pulled his gun off his belt. Pam didn't question a thing, but crouched down on command. The walker wasn't even a single step away from Pam, when Jim fired his gun. Pam let out involuntary scream as the bullet sank into the things head making blood spill all the way to Pam and making her fall to the water.

"Are you okay?" Jim rushed to Pam's side pulling her up from the water.

"Yeah, yeah. I just didn't see it at all," Pam said. Jim saw that she was visibly shaking so he pulled her into his arms by instinct. He could hear her sigh, as she just leaned into him.

Their moment of relief was brief. Jim's trained ear picked up more heavy breathing and dragging of feet. Instantly he had pushed Pam behind his back and turned around to face what was coming.

There were at least ten of them, if not more. Jim could feel Pam pull her weapon out and ready herself. Jim took aim and shot two more, all the time backing away, pushing Pam first.

"Run, Pam. To the camp!" Jim didn't need to tell her twice. She turned and sprinted off towards the path. Jim stayed behind thinking that he can't let these make it to the camp. There were too many people there. So he replaced his gun with his knife to not attract anymore attention and got ready to fight.

"Jim!" Pam's voice screamed and suddenly she was back again. She took a hold of Jim's hand and pulled. "I am not leaving you here!"

There was no time to argue, and the walkers were getting close.

"Go!" he yelled and started to run with her.

Their escape was short lived when more walkers had made their way behind them. Jim squeezed Pam's hand and gave her a little nod before letting go of it. Then he ran to the first walker, slashing his machete into the walker's brain and yanking it off quickly.

He was horrified. He would have been less scared to be in that situation alone, but he had Pam to take care of, to whom no one had ever bothered to teach how to best protect herself in a situation like the one they were in.

Silently he willed Dwight to appear, as sliced another walkers head off and getting face full of blood. There were too many of them to make it to the path. Especially since Pam seemed to have frozen from horror. She was looking around herself like a scared rabbit.

A walker took a hold of Jim's left bicep and he twisted himself around to deliver another deathly blow.

Another one took a hold of the very scared Pam's left arm and was scarily close of getting a bite.

"Pam!" Jim screamed, but he was blocked by two walkers, and he knew there was absolutely no way he could make it to her.

Hearing his voice seemed to set Pam alive though. The shaky hand that was holding the knife squeezed it harder and plunged it into the walker's eye. Blood sprayed all over her face and the walker fell on top of her, crushing Pam's tiny body to the ground under it.

Absolutely horrified Pam tried not to scream, and Jim could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but she was covered with walker blood and was being crushed under one; it was getting hard for her to keep it under control.

While Jim fiercely sliced left and right to get to her, she tried to wriggle first her hands free and then the knife from the thing's eye. Another one was already leaning over her, and Jim pulled his gun out. Nothing could be done to the sound that was going to attract more of them.

But Jim had underestimated Pam. Even from her horrid point of view, she managed to remove the knife from the dead one's eye and insert it to the new ones face. She gagged as the blood poured on her face.

"Hang in there Pam. I'm coming," Jim called out, even though he didn't know how he could make it to her, and he didn't see Pam being able to throw more stunts like the last one.

"Jim!" she shouted as she saw more coming towards her.

But Jim was getting swarmed by the walkers. He had no idea how many there was and he was barely able to see Pam anymore. He was just able to hear her begging for help.

That was when a very familiar 'swuush' of an arrow took out the walker about to bite Jim. Then another and another. Jim hit his machete on top of the head of the last walker attacking him and then he ran straight to Pam.

With the confidence he received from having Dwight there, he dropped his knife and threw the walker off of Pam. Pam was a shaking mess when she was able to move and she clasped onto Jim very tightly immediately when she could.

She was unable to speak, she just squeezed him tight. Jim didn't mind, but he wished the hug would have happened under different circumstances, so he wouldn't have to push her away and help her up.

There were still walkers to kill around them, and Jim wasn't about the get surprised for the third time during the same attack. Jim gave Pam a reassuring smile, and then scanned their surroundings. But there was none left; Dwight was already collecting his arrows from the dead things, and a few of the others were running down the path to see what was happening.

"Add that to the list of the times I've saved your ass," Dwight said smugly when he walked closer to the bloody pair. Jim let his hand rest on Pam's shoulder and he just let Dwight be. Pam's arms were around Jim's waist and she kept them there when she talked to Dwight.

"Thank you, Dwight. I think… I know that without you, we would be dead. Really, thank you," Pam said looking Dwight in the eye.

"You just owe me one now," Dwight dismissed it, and Jim knew he was feeling uncomfortable to be receiving such a praise. He liked to brag with Jim and keep count and be just a general pain in the ass, but it was different with other people.

"Babe!" Roy's voice came from the path and Jim let his hand fall from Pam's shoulder. Slowly Pam let her arms fell as well and then she stepped few steps forward to Roy's embrace.

Jim had already forgotten Roy's existence and he looked away from the awkward play in front of him. He closed his ears from the murmured talk and he definitely didn't want to see the small kisses exchanged, but he could not avoid looking at them when Roy came right in front of him. He had Pam squeezed to his side, and she looked extremely uncomfortable.

"I don't think I can thank you enough for being here today. You really saved her. Thanks, man," Roy said and extended his hand to a handshake.

"Yeah, no problem," Jim said and grabbed his extended hand.

"C'mon, babe. I'll make you feel better in out tent," Roy murmured against Pam's hair, and steered her away.

Jim wanted to be sick. He knew too well what Roy meant by making her feel better, and Jim also knew that it would not make her feel better. She almost died tonight. And she would have died if Jim hadn't given her that knife. All because of what Roy thought.

"What a disgusting man. He refused to come down here and fight when we first heard the gun shot and Pam scream," Dwight remarked, and it made Jim's fury burn red hot.

"Yeah, well, he also denied her the right to carry a weapon," Jim told Dwight as he picked the knife he had earlier given Pam. He tucked it away, to give her back later.

"In normal circumstances I would agree with him. Men are much more skilful with battles and using weapons, but times have changed."

"What happened here?" Michael yelled from the path.

"We were taken by surprise," Jim grunted as he started to move around the dozen dead walkers. If they were left to the water to rot, it would be useless.

"That's what she said!" Michael yelled, and laughed at his own joke.

Dwight joined his companion in the cleaning, and to both of their surprises, so did Creed.


	4. Chapter 4

******Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N: **Hey guys, and here is a new chapter for you. I have tried to get the comedy aspect more into this and I hope it works! I also want to say that some of you might not agree with my characterization of Michael, but I swear I have an explanation to his behavior, and I hope you will stick with me! :)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

It took the three men hours to drag the bodies far enough into the forest, so that the stink would not reach their camp and that the soil and water would not be poisoned. In the beginning they had some spectators, including Michael Scott, but they had all faded as the sun lowered itself on the sky.

Finally with on the last rays of the sun, Jim, Dwight and Creed made their way up the path feeling dirty and tired.

"Hey, Creed, thanks for the help," Jim said when they finally reached the clearing.

"No problem, man. I do like to have a workout every once in a while," Creed answered and walked to join the other group members around a tiny camp fire they had crafted in the middle of the clearing.

Jim didn't even want to think all of the reasons why it was a bad idea, and he definitely didn't want to think how he would be too tired to handle another attack. So while Dwight left him standing alone to join the group, Jim contemplated of going to get few hours of sleep in the car while everyone was still awake and he didn't have to worry about protecting them.

Besides he didn't really feel like keeping up the charade that he didn't hate Roy's guts, and he was sitting there with all the others with Pam tucked away in his arms.

Dwight was just sitting down in between Michael and Creed when Jim was starting to walk away. He did not notice Pam pushing herself away from Roy and getting to her feet. Only when she touched his arm gently and whispered; "Hey" he noticed her.

"Where are you going? In case you didn't notice, we are having a bit of a gathering. We would love if you joined us," Pam smiled, and Jim couldn't help but to give her a little smile back.

"I'm just feeling very tired, and you all seem to be very happy with the way things are right now," Jim tried to reach his usual easy jokey voice, but was way too tired to even try to hide his glance at Roy.

"Things can always be better. Plus, you are the man of the hour. The hero. I am sure everyone would love to hear your hero story," Pam teased.

Jim loved the fact that she tried so hard but he was still covered in blood, and he didn't even dare to think what he smelled like. Pam had cleaned up pretty well, although she was still wearing the clothes from the attack, which were covered in blood. She also had a blood smear near her hairline.

Against his better judgment Jim raised his hand and gently wiped it off.

"We both know that I didn't save anyone. Dwight did," he said as he pulled his hand back.

"Jim, c'mon," was all Pam said before she grabbed his hands and started dragging him forward. He didn't try to fight it. He said to himself that he was too tired really, but it was more about the thrill he got from her hand.

She didn't even look at Roy as she sat back down next to him and pulled Jim down with her. Jim felt slightly awkward having everyone eyes on him.

"It was Jim, right?" the girl named Kelly started and Jim had barely even time to nod, when she was already talking again; "I heard that you saved Pam from some walkers. That was so unbelievably brave of you! I wish there was someone who would do that for me! It is like, so romantic as well."

"I think you all have heard the story wrong. I wasn't the big hero – it was Dwight," Jim pointed to Dwight and smirked "Yes, that guy. He was the hero of the day with his big crossbow and impressive aim."

"Well thank you, Jim. It's about time that you notice my brilliance that comes across especially in this world," Dwight cocked his head a bit as he talked.

Jim gave Pam a sideways glance, and saw her looking at him at the exact same time. She hadn't believed him about Dwight's weirdness by the pond but maybe he could show it to her now. He just hoped he hadn't lost his touch during his no-prank season.

"You know, what is a real shame? We got this nice fire here, and it all feels good. But we are missing something important. I wish we had marshmallows," Jim said thoughtfully and sighed.

"Oh, I love marshmallows! They use to be my favourite thing to grill and eat when ever I was somewhere with a fireplace!" Kelly chimed in looking dreamily.

"Man, that would make this evening quite good," Darryl agreed.

"I would definitely eat some marshmallows," Pam said. She was looking at Jim and raising her eyebrow. Jim lifted one finger to her, telling her to wait.

"Don't you have some in the car, Dwight?" Jim asked.

"No, I don't. You should know it, you have been travelling in it for months," Dwight shook his head and looked at Michael.

"Dwight, if you have marshmallows in your car and you are not giving them to us, I will be really upset. Jim got the idea of marshmallows into my head now, and I really want them," Michael said.

"I'm sure that I saw some there. Boxes full of white sticks," Jim pretended to look like he was thinking very hard.

"Those are not marshmallows, they are tampons!" Dwight scoffed, "Jim you are so stupid sometimes."

"No! I was so sure… But… They tasted like marshmallows!" Jim's facial expression was one of pure horror, although inside he just wanted to laugh.

"God, Jim. Why do I always have to make everything so simple for you," Dwight sighed and got up. He started to walk to the car, and as soon as he was out of the hearing distance, Pam cracked up.

"Oh my God! You weren't kidding!" she laughed and Jim did a little bow while sitting down, which made her laugh even more.

"What is going on here?" Kelly asked. She and the others around the fire looked utterly confused.

"Just wait," Jim said, and pretty soon Dwight was back. He threw a box at Jim, which he caught with ease.

"Look for yourself, idiot."

Jim studied the package a bit longer than needed; he knew very well what it was, but it was all for the sake of comedy.

"Oh, goodness. You are right: O.B. _Ultra, 40 tampons,_" Jim read out loud.

"What?" Kelly shrieked and crawled to Jim on all fours to snatch the pack from his hands.

"Why the hell do you have tampons, you freak? What would you do with them?" Kelly asked turning her head to Dwight.

"And ultra, Dwight, really?" Pam added

"Well, I knew I would meet some women on my journey and thought that the tampons would work as a great currency. So if you have anything that would interest me, I am willing to trade those with it," Dwight explained and sounded genuinely surprised that explanations were even needed. Then he turned to Pam.

"I am sorry that I am not able to cater to your personal needs. I couldn't have possibly known that I meet you and that your flow is not heavy enough to wear ultra."

"Please, don't talk about my flow ever again," Pam said with a serious face.

"Kelly, what you have to offer?" Dwight brushed Pam's comment off like he hadn't even heard it and concentrated on Kelly.

Mean while Pam sneaked up a look to Jim and mouthed '_wow_'. Jim smiled and then mouthed '_I told you so_', which cause Pam to burst into a silenced laughter one more time.

"What! You can't possibly think that I am going to give these back to you. You have no right to be in the possession of such things. I am keeping this and giving you nothing back!" Kelly said and took to her feet.

"I am going to my tent now to get some sleep, and if you try to follow me or do anything like that, I will scream and get all the walkers from a five mile radius to come here." And with that she stomped off leaving very confused Dwight staring after her.

"Nice one [would Dwight use this phrase? – possibly 'congratulations' instead], Jim. Because of your stupidity, I lost one pack of my best currency," Dwight sighed.

"So you do, in fact, have more of those?" Jim asked.

"Of course. Why would I be so stupid as to only take one pack? This was always a possibility!"

"Aaaaarghh! So there is no marshmallows?" Michael asked looking very disappointed. It was Jim's turn to look at Pam with his eye brows raised in a question. Pam just rolled her eyes and sighed.

Jim turned away smiling.

"No. My stupid partner had mistaken some tampons as marshmallows. He is stupid like that," Dwight explained.

The sun was almost fully gone when Creed got to his feet.

"I'm going to hit the hay, guys. I am so tired after having to drag those dead things around all day," he said before he left. Good nights were murmured all around for him, but people didn't seem to care that much.

"I can take the first watch everyone, so you can all go to sleep whenever you like," Jim offered automatically. He knew well enough that he would not be able to sleep before he could see the sun again. Not after what almost happened to Pam today. And to him of course.

"Watch?" Michael asked confused, but everyone just ignored him.

"Thanks a lot man – I've been doing so many of them lately that I don't even think I know how to sleep anymore," Darryl said, and fist bumped Jim. Then he got to his feet and disappeared to one of the tents.

"What watch?" Michael asked again.

"Someone is always up and keeping eye on things, Michael. In case we get attacked during the night," Pam explained, and grabbed Roy's waiting hands, who then pulled her up.

"Night, guys," Pam said, but was mostly looking at Jim.

"Yeah, night. And thanks again, Halpert, for saving my girl. Also, thanks for keeping watch," Roy said, and once again shook Jim's hand. Jim smiled at him and mumbled nonsense saying 'my pleasure and it's alright', but paying no attention to it what so ever. [good characterisation again, Roy calling him 'halpert' – keep that up]

He felt extreme discomfort to let Pam go with him, but also he felt a bit confused by his behaviour. He had said thanks a lot, and he had acted nice towards Jim, but still Jim didn't feel good about the way he was treating Pam. Maybe, if he ever would get a chance again, he could ask from Pam what is going on with that guy.

Jim was sure that his sad eyes, and dull expression during the exchange had gone unnoticed by everyone; after all they were the new guys who no one knew. But he was wrong; when Jim let out a long sigh and looked up, he saw Oscar looking at him with a curious look. When their eyes met, Oscar lifted one of his eyebrows slightly and automatically Jim turned his eyes to the ground. Hopefully, Oscar wouldn't turn out to be Roy's best friend.

After that, Jim didn't really participate in the conversation, but he did notice Dwight looking at Angela when she left. He looked just a few seconds too long to be discreet. Jim shook his head a little, thinking that this place might be his and Dwight's undoing. No good could become from love in this world.

Slowly all the rest left as well, Toby saying that he would be there to take over in couple of hours, but Jim was pretty certain that he would tell the man to just go back to sleep. He trusted no one to keep Pam— and the other people in the camp safe. Well except maybe Dwight who was now the only other person around the camp fire. They sat opposite each other, and Dwight threw a few more sticks into the slowly dying fire.

They sat quietly for a while, before Dwight got to his feet. Jim looked at him.

"I am just going to keep an eye on things from the edge of the forest," Dwight explained, and Jim only nodded. He knew Dwight's quirks and he always felt better when there were eyes dotted around rather than having a group in the middle where they could be surrounded by walkers.

Dwight walked away and sat at the edge of the forest near the path were they first came to the clearing. For a second Jim thought about going over there and talking to him about what he thought of the place and the people, and if he thought they should stay. But he didn't. He just couldn't be bothered having that conversation for many reasons, but maybe mostly because he wasn't sure himself if he wanted to stay or go.

The hours ticked by, and the only entertainment Jim got was from the occasionally eye contact he made with Dwight. Eventually Toby came around and told Jim to go to sleep. Jim declined like he knew he would, and Toby went back to sleep, without arguing that much.

"Mind if I join you?" Pam asked. Jim had heard her exit her tent, and he heard every step she took, but he didn't look in case she just needed the toilet or something. Now though, Jim turned and looked at Pam, who stood a bit awkwardly next to him. She had a cardigan covering her that she kept pulling closer around her. The small flickering flames made her hair seem alive, and they were just enough to illuminate the awkward lip bite.

"Of course, sit down," Jim said with a smile and tapped the ground next to him, "but I am pretty sure I saw Roy drag you to the tent with him."

"Yeah, that did happen, but I just couldn't sleep. Today's attack was the first in a long time when my life was really at the stake, so I guess it's just all the adrenaline that doesn't seem to go away," Pam explained and sat down. Jim couldn't help but to notice that Pam still hadn't changed her bloodied clothes.

"That actually reminds me…," Jim pulled the knife that he had already give Pam once, from his belt and handed it to Pam again.

"This is what saved your life today. Not me, but you and your use of this knife. So you better hold on to it in case you would ever need it again," Jim said. Pam nodded and took the knife from him. She looked at the blade that Jim had cleaned, and surprisingly smiled.

"While I have to agree that the knife helped, but you were the one who gave it to me. You were the one who managed to get me to move and act to save my life," she said and put the knife away.

"Did I ever even thank you?"

Jim looked at her.

"I don't think I did," Pam touched his hand softly, "Thank you, Jim. If you had wandered into our camp a day later, or if you had decided that watching a girl do laundry is not worth your time, I would be dead. Or worse."

Awkwardly Jim turned towards the fire, but a small smile managed to find its way to Jim's lips.

"Don't mention it. Really, it was…," Jim started, but didn't know how to continue. What was it, really? "Anyway, it's alright. You would have done the same for me."

"Yeah."

Pam's eyes lingered on Jim's face and then she turned to look at the fire. Jim's eyes travelled to her face, the second hers left his. The fire lit up her features and she looked so heartbreakingly beautiful.

Jim wanted to tell her that there might be something better for her out there. Who knew what would happen, and that she should not be under the command of Roy.

But he only said:

"I hope you get everything figured out. Meanwhile, you need to stand up for yourself. You can't let Roy put your life into danger again, just because he thinks you shouldn't carry a weapon."

"You are right, and I know that," Pam said, but she seemed to be more convincing herself than talking to Jim.

Neither of them even tried to revive the conversation, and Jim only took occasionally glances of Pam who seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Why are you even still up?" Pam asked and surprised Jim with her question. He had thought she had come here to look for _his_ company, but apparently she had just wanted to get out of her tent.

"I can't really sleep, and leave someone else keeping watch. I guess you could say that I don't trust people," Jim said awkwardly. Pam was looking at him again.

"You have to sleep sometime. Besides, I would think you are relatively safe in your car," she pondered, and caused Jim to have a mini heart attack. How was he supposed to explain to her that the main reason wasn't worry over himself, or Dwight? That is was the worry over everyone on this camp after seeing how their grouped worked, or rather didn't work? That he was so worried about Pam spending her night with the man who refused to come and fight for her?

"Yeah, I guess I would be," was all he said eventually. The bubble of emotions of in his chest was making it hard to breath.

"I get it. It is hard to trust other people protect things you care about," Pam agreed, and she gave a small look to Jim, that convinced him that she knew every little thing was going on in his head.

Jim only nodded, not being sure at all of how to answer to her. Pam wiggled a little on her spot, trying to get more comfortable.

"So where is Dwight? I would have assumed he is like you, and unable to trust people," Pam asked.

"He is right there," Jim pointed to the edge of the forest, where Dwight sat completely still, but eyes moving constantly.

"Wow, that is very… creepy," Pam laughed a bit uncomfortably. Jim sneered a little. He felt the tiredness of the day creeping up on him; their last night's sleep barely counted even as sleep and he had been involved in two different walker ambushes. His muscles ached and a small headache was forming, but he refused to even think about sleeping.

"I have been meaning to ask you about Michael. I don't really understand how he can be your leader… I mean, he seems to be in denial about everything," Jim asked and suppressed a yawn.

"Oh yeah… Well, I don't really know. Like I told you it was him and I, and a few others who escaped together from the Scranton branch, and he just kind of never realized that in this world he is not our manager anymore. It is hard to describe what is going on in this camp, Jim. Sometimes I feel like people just wish the best everyday when they wake up," Pam shook her head.

"You included?" Jim asked. Pam looked at him and laughed a little.

"Yeah, I guess. But I think that things are really going to change now that you are here."

Jim crossed his legs, and pondered if he should ask about Roy. He really wanted to know how she felt about him not coming to her aid even though he had heard her. But Jim decided against it.

"Do you mind if I lie down for a minute?" Pam asked and yawned. She kept pulling the cardigan tighter around her.

"Of course not, but wouldn't you be more comfortable in the tent?" Jim asked.

Pam lay down on the hard ground and placed her head on Jim's thigh, which made Jim's heart skip a beat.

"Probably, but I don't want to go there," Pam mumbled as the sleep tried to tug her under," I was so worried that you gave in to your tiredness and let Toby take over for you. I just wanted to talk with you some more."

Pam's last words were barely loud enough to for Jim to hear it, but it made him smile. He looked at her sleeping face for a while, being sure that no one was around to see them he felt comfortable doing so.

Finally Jim had to drag his eyes away from her, and to his surprise he saw Dwight staring at him from his spot. Jim had completely forgotten his existence. Now Dwight was looking at him and slowly he shook his head. Jim sighed and turned away. He would not hear the end of this now.

The morning was only a couple of hours away, and during those hours Jim didn't move at all. He was too scared of disrupting Pam's peaceful sleep: she had barely moved herself in those couple of hours, but she looked very comfortable and happy, which made Jim confused. He didn't understand how that could be; how could anyone be comfortable lying on the hard ground using other person's leg as a pillow.

When the sun finally hit the clearing again, the fire was completely out, and Jim was sure that his legs were dead. Gently he shook Pam, not really wanting to wake her, but knowing that he needed his sleep. He was feeling so tired that he probably would fall asleep the minute he saw their car.

"Pam, maybe you should continue this in your tent," Jim whispered, and Pam stirred. She pulled herself up, wiping the tiniest bit of drool from her cheek.

"Yeah, I probably better go before Roy wakes up," she mumbled. With unsteady feet she got up. With sleep evident on her face she looked at Jim.

"Thanks," was all she said before she smiled and walked away. Jim wasn't sure why she was thanking him, but it did make him feel warm and good inside.

With a tired sigh, Jim forced himself to stand up as well, and it took him a good while to get his legs to work again. Dwight was still sitting at the same spot he had been all night. Jim nodded to him before making his way to the tent he had seen Toby going. He woke the other man up to take over the watch; now that the sun was up he felt slightly better about leaving everyone's lives on someone else's hands.

Toby didn't mind the wake up call, and took over without saying much. Jim joined Dwight, who was waiting for him at the start of the dirt road. Together they walked towards the car; Jim could tell that Dwight was absolutely dried out as well, because he wasn't talking.

Quietly they got into the car, and lowered their seats to a sleeping position.

"You do know that it won't end up well, right? You can't be so stupid that you think he won't come after you when he finds out?" Dwight asked when they had both got comfortable. Jim didn't even need to ask what he was talking about, and although it annoyed him that Dwight had to voice these things out loud, he couldn't blame the guy. Of course Jim knew all that.

"None of your business," Jim mumbled, and pulled his blanket over his head to block the sunlight – and to prevent Dwight from seeing his face.

"False. It is my business, because your ass being whipped means that I have to choose between protecting you and siding with the group," Dwight said. Jim didn't answer anymore, but the sleep he had felt so heavy just a moment ago, was slowly leaving him as the horrible thoughts invaded his head.

Jim wanted to point out that he had seen the looks Dwight gives Angela, but it wasn't the same thing. As far as they knew, Angela was not engaged. Jim sighed and closed his eyes. He would just have to turn his heart to stone, and not spend time with Pam.

After a while Jim heard Dwight sighing and turning on his seat.

Even though Jim's head was consumed with thoughts of Pam and Dwight's words played in his mind on a loop, the exhaustion won and pulled him into a restless sleep. And even more surprisingly he slept for hours; when he finally managed to wake up from a dream where all he could see was Pam turned into a walker, the sun was high in the sky.

Dwight was next to him asleep as well, and after wiping his face to get rid of the remains of his sleep, Jim shook him awake.

"Dwight, we better get up. It is probably after noon already," Jim mumbled. Dwight groaned, but he opened his eyes and stretched.

"What happened? How come you didn't wake me earlier?"

"Because I literally woke up two seconds before I woke you up," Jim answered, but the answer was completely lacking its usual sting. He was still _so tired _and also worried. Dwight and he had developed a special kind of survival mode, where they only slept four to five hours a night and that had gone on for months. Their bodies knew when it was time to abandon sleep. So sleeping as long as they did – _especially with the nightmares_, crossed Jim's mind – was worrying.

"The clock says it's 1PM," Dwight announced after his eyes adjusted to the sun and he was able to read the tiny clock on the dashboard.

Jim snapped his head to Dwight's direction.

"Seven hours?!"

Dwight and Jim shared glances that had the whole conversation in it; how on Earth they could have already felt so comfortable to let other people keep them safe for _seven hours_?

As the paranoid one, Dwight jumped up from his seat and started to search the car.

"Maybe they drugged us," he mumbled as he rifled through their stuff on the backseat. "You saw that Kelly girl last night going crazy over the tampons. It might have been her."

Sighing, and still feeling absolutely exhausted, Jim got up the car to calm down Dwight crazy.

"No one drugged us, Dwight. We didn't even eat with them. Quite honestly I think that we were just so exhausted, and maybe we did feel a little more comfortable sleeping longer when there are other people around us."

Dwight stopped his search and leaned to the car looking at Jim.

"I didn't feel at ease last night, or during the day. These people are completely unable to protect themselves, not to mention us. If there had been an attack they would have left us to get eaten to save them selves!"

"Okay, yeah, I do agree with you there, but that is much more likely than us being drugged. Also, I can guarantee nothing is missing," Jim sighed, "Let's just get to the camp, and see how we should arrange our meal times."

"I'm not sharing with all those people!" Dwight announced.

"I know you are not. Let's just see what is going to happen."

Jim just started to walk away knowing that eventually Dwight would follow him. He just felt uneasy, which was understandable, but Jim's mind was too full of pictures of the mangled body of Pam's from his dreams. Every where he went in his dream, Pam was always there to try to bite him, and every time she charged Jim knew he was responsible for her demise.

Jim was incredibly annoyed with himself, since he let a girl who he had known about for a very short amount of time to invade his thoughts and dreams, and make him lose his focus.

"Just so you know, I don't like this', Dwight said when he caught up with Jim. His crossbow was casually thrown over his shoulder, and Jim briefly thought should he have packed a gun, or something besides the machete.

"You want to leave?" Jim asked, and in all honesty he wasn't sure what he wanted Dwight to answer. He felt weird resentment when he thought about leaving, but he knew that it would be the easiest and most likely smartest thing to do.

Dwight contemplated Jim's question for a long time. They were nearly at the clearing and they saw the weird little village full of life.

Kelly was arguing about something over Darryl; Toby and Oscar were piling up wood for the future fires; Michael was sitting outside his tent; Creed was suspiciously just walking around; and Meredith was getting an earful off of Angela.

"Maybe we could stick around for another day," Dwight finally said, "We can look how thing seem tomorrow."

Jim agreed with a nod, and together they walked into the camp. Michael spotted them fast and soon he was at their side.

"Hello there sleepy heads!" he greeted with an annoyingly smug smile.

Jim immediately regretted not leaving the moment they woke up; if this was the treatment they would get after they saved one of their own and then staying up all night to protect the people they hardly know….

"We have been up early and been getting on with our daily routine, while you have been sleeping," Michael was clearly joking, but it still managed to get on Jim's nerves; maybe because he was tired?

"I was all in favour of coming to throw some water at you guys, but I was stopped by these boring people," Michael made a big gesture towards everyone.

"Hey, Mike, leave them alone. We already told you, they stayed up all night keeping watch," Darryl finally intervened and Jim felt like hugging the man.

"I still don't understand why someone has to stay up," Michael mumbled and Jim forced a smile; this man behaved like a child and if they were going to stay, Jim swore to himself that he would have a conversation with Dwight about training the group. Also to overthrow Michael as the leader.

Maybe if they were lucky he would get eaten.

Jim immediately regretted the thought although he was kidding; a little bit anyway. No one should get eaten.

"Morning, Michael," Jim just said ignoring everything else and walked to Darryl leaving Dwight with Michael; for some weird reason they seemed to get along. Maybe it really was that Dwight found the manager in Michael that he refused to even look for in Karen.

Dwight didn't even notice him leaving and awkwardly Jim went to stand next to Darryl and unfortunately, Kelly.

"Hey, thanks for that man," Jim said, and Darryl extended his hand into a fist bump. Respectively Jim answered to it.

"No problem; Mike tried to rally everyone to 'haze the new guys' when you were sleeping and there were quite few of us telling him to leave you alone. He can be a bit too much sometimes," Darryl explained.

"Wow, sounds like owe a lot of people thanks then. I mean we don't really sleep that much ever, but I guess it's nice that for once when that happens people don't meddle with it," Jim laughed.

"No need to thank anyone, we were just talking about it that you guys really saved us last night by taking the watch. We only have so many people here who are even a decent shot and most have not even had to kill a walker. Things are getting tough for the few of us, who feel like the whole camp depends on us. So anyway, it's nice to have extra help."

"You can't say that it is a bad thing that some people can't kill! It is very rude thing to say and I think you should be happy for the part of us who never have had to battle them!" Kelly pitched in, and in that point Jim voluntarily tuned out.

So things were like he had been suspecting; no one here were exactly equipped for this life and it was a miracle that they were alive. While Jim's brain was coming up with ideas and plans to give some simple combat training to everyone in the camp, his eyes were scanning his surroundings. For nothing in particular, he told himself, denying that it very much was for someone in particular. She was nowhere to be seen, but Jim accidentally locked eyes with Oscar, who gave him that knowing look, that reminded Jim so much of the one last night. Eventually he heard his name being said in the conversation next to him, and he quickly broke the awkward eye contact with Oscar.

"You would, Jim? Right?" Kelly asked him and stared at him. Darryl looked a bit peeved, and Jim honestly had no idea what they were talking about.

"What?"

"You would treat a woman the way they deserve to be treated, and not like scum like Darryl treats me!" Kelly's staring was making Jim feel extremely uncomfortable. He would like to think that he would, but the evidence was against him.

"Umm.. I-, it's hard to say…," Jim mumbled as he took small steps backwards. "Anyway, I need to go to talk to Dwight about something."

Without waiting for an answer Jim turned around, but wasn't able to take any steps before he saw angry Roy surfacing from the path to the clearing, waving a knife and yelling;

"Halpert!"

Hey, wait a second: it was _his _knife. Well Pam's, but originally it had been his.

It took Dwight all in all five seconds to appear next to Jim.

"I hate to say this, but I told you so," Dwight said into Jim's ear.

"Shut up!" hissed Jim who had already placed his hand on his machete but without pulling it out.

"Maybe you should take it out. He looks mad," Dwight voice was full of mockery, and Jim wanted to punch him for it, but he knew in reality Dwight had been right, and all of this was his own stupid fault.

"What's up, Roy?" Jim shouted back trying to sound casual, but he was still very sure that the knife he was waving had something to do with it. Next to Jim, Dwight was taking aim with his trusted crossbow.


End file.
